Batman!

A few weeks past were a series of unusually warm days into the 70s.  No longer spring but almost summer.  I headed out to plant some perennials in the heat and happened to glance up at the sky.  Just above my head diving and swirling like a dog-fighter pilot was a rusty brown bat in the afternoon sun.  


What was he doing in the middle of the day?  Had he gotten mixed up because of the sudden change in seasonal temps?  


He swooped and dove and perhaps was eating gnats up high that I could not see.  I crazily threw off my muddy garden shoes and gloves and almost killed myself rushing inside to get a camera to photograph this phenomena.


I had the telephoto lens on and therefore it was hard to capture such a small bird in such crazy flight.  He zoomed to the side of the high holly and actually landed...for three seconds.  He was immediately attacked by the resident titmouse who screeched at him and went for his throat!  I was so enthralled by the exercise that I did not get a photo.


The bat flew off into the woods and then just over my head he was followed closely by the bald eagle...both at low levels.  They disappeared into the bare branches of the trees.  I hope that wherever they ended up, they played nice!

Another Lunch Guest

While eating lunch yesterday I happened to glance out my breakfast corner window.  It was a dreary rainy day.  It had actually been raining for several days and I had been thinking about my day lilies that had arrived and were waiting patiently in my cold garage to be planted.

Something red caught my eye.  It was not a cardinal.  I knew that I could not sneak open the deck door without losing the opportunity and therefore took these through the double-paned window.

One would think that when one was packing such a dangerous weapon one would be just a little braver when it comes to stalking photographers.

It's Not There

Some times I see things in the woods that aren't really there.

Like elephant toes.

Or Elephant legs

Or Sleepy Dragons (some make-up added)

Or swirly snakes.

Or the carriage trail to the castle as I hurry for shelter before nightfall.

Hot House Flowers

 A gray and rainy spring day is framed by the windows of my dining room.

Silver drops of cold hang from sharp holly leaves.

Winter smoky fog and sage greens linger peacefully in the ravine.

Tiny bright green noses of flowers to come

push through the newly laid chocolate mulch 

as if they were hungry pups looking for their mother.

And at my table

sheltered in the artificial warmth

these brazen hussies fly open.

Full-faced trumpets imploring for touch and kiss and more.

Flowers of summer with their own

self-stimulation to satisfy their high ardor. 

A Clue

I did not do any tweaking.  When Mother Nature provides you with an exquisite sunset, you accept the gift with modesty and thankfulness.  All I did was reduce the huge size in which I took the photo.  This type of sunset portends only better days.  Click on the photo and be thankful for what you have today.

Battles Won and Lost

Last fall I was crazy strong and laughed at the rush of cold weather that was waiting like a freight train to freeze everything in its path and to turn every warm color to cold gray and black.  I crossed my arms and stuck out my chin and said "Bring it on."  With the heat of fall afternoons still in my heart, I even paused to reflect on the beauty of the dusting of white glitter that continued to cover every surface while holding close any remaining warmth beneath my scarf.

But time was on winter's side and I have been worn smooth with all the suffocating snows and freezing rains and charging winds and shortened days.  My sharp chin has been refined into modesty and my arms hang down at my sides no longer attempting to hold in the warmth.  Now as I finally admit defeat, the winter takes its victory flags and in a sudden departure opens the door for gentle, shy spring to arrive surprising us all!

Birds of a Feather

The most intriguing of the birds in Florida for me were the snowy egrets with their wispy plumage.  They were like entire balls of white cloud or dancing threads.  These birds almost met their demise when women's vanity demanded hats with the exotic decor of real bird feathers and eventually whole birds were stuffed and placed on their heads like some weird homage to hunting.  Hundreds of these awkward looking delicate creatures would be killed in a single day!  That was when mankind felt that everything on this earth was his domain and it would all last forever.  Lesson still being learned!

For more information on the demise of birds brought about so that women could wear stylish hats you can check this link or for a chronological history of this craziness go here.  And if you have the stomach for how entire birds looked when killed and placed on womens' heads go here.  Fur, feathers and skin...what a fix we were in!

Happy Feet

I have nothing intelligent to say about this anhinga.  The photos are not great and there is no excuse for that because these birds (who do not have natural water repellent) must dry their wings when they come out of the water which results in them sitting very still for long periods of time in the full sun on branches.  Even an amateur can get a decent photo so what is my excuse?


Just, for some reason, this fellow looked so hopelessly happy and goofy that I had to post about him today.  Must be the brief spring that danced through our yard a few days ago.  Click on the photos if you do not believe me.

A Collection of Some of the Little Guys

I took hundreds of bird photos but will share the smallest of them.

Just a collection of photos of the forest birds in Florida that we spotted on our hikes and canoe trips.  Above a catbird.

Kingfishers

Snow Plover?

Least Grebe

Painted Bunting at the Corkscrew Swamp feeder
(For a closer view, you may wish to click on the photos.)

Chance Encounter

During one of our several canoe trips in Florida, we decided to explore the area just outside the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  This is a protected area on the barrier island of Sanibel.  It is famous among bird watchers and tourists.  It is usually crowded with guys and gals lugging tripods with large intimidating lenses.  (Why is there always one guy photographer with a pony tail?)  Most of the birds can be easily observed at low tide from the 4 mile drive through the park.  One water side of the refuge is also open to canoes and non-motored boats.  


We were surprised to find that most of the birds were more closely observable from the drive and not from our canoe.  We also spent (wasted) some time trying to find an area to launch the canoe with enough water to paddle in as it was low tide.  


At mid-day we tucked into a mangrove and marsh area on the far side of the reserve to eat a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fresh Florida fruit.  We were deep in conversation about the areas of the mangrove that had been destroyed by a hurricane years earlier and the second hit of cold weather that had caused die-back on the trees last month.  I was just about to expound on some other tidbit from my wisdom when I looked up at something that moved at the front of the canoe.  I stopped talking with my mouthful of sandwich and froze in place.

After a second, I quietly and stealthily grabbed my camera which I had placed at my feet and with the telephoto still on quickly took the overexposed photo above.  See that little bird in the center of the V of the wood branches?  I was afraid he had not noticed us and would quickly retreat when discovering how close he was to the bow of the canoe!  But he just kept on perusing the mud flats and as I studied him he caught a little 2-inch fish and gulped it down while watching us with one eye!  This was quite a surprise as my husband and I had not seen a single fish of that size the whole lunch hour while we watched shallow water activity from the canoe.

Here he is poking closer along the side of the boat and sneaking under mangrove roots.  He is a juvenile heron.

Here is an even better photo of the entire little guy who was completely unconcerned (well he at least bluffed that) about our proximity.

Such a little charmer and so glad he shared his lunch time with us!  I feel privileged when they trust us to be so close.  (Do click on the last photo for a kiss.)

More Florida Birds

We were happy to see this Florida osprey.  He looked thinner than our mid-Atlantic fish hawks and whiter, but perhaps he was a migrant and we just didn't recognize him in his warmer wardrobe.  The hurricane that passed through a few years ago managed to destroy large sections of mangrove which left dead branch perches everywhere for these regal birds.

We paddled by this yellow crowned night heron, but he did not look  happy.  I hope that it was just the cold and windy weather that made him look out of sorts.  (Not that he was so crabby hungry!) The yellow on the forehead explains how is named which you can see more clearly if you click on the photo---I did not reduce the pixels.  He is supposed to be most active in the nighttime, but we saw quite a few during the daylight hours along the edge of the mangrove looking for crabs, frogs and fish.

Ugly Duckling NOT

Pelicans were in abundance as we canoed the fingers of water between various mangrove marshes during our recent trip to Florida.  For some reason they do not seem as exotic or interesting when found in my back yard!  It is hard to believe that pelicans were almost wiped out by pesticides a few decades ago.  But you cannot sigh with relief as Florida is slowly becoming one mass of suburban gated communities outlined by golf courses and fringed by shopping malls which put increasing pressure on the birds' habitat.  This brown pelican was sitting peacefully on the top of the mangrove tree as we coasted past just below him. The weather rarely got above 60 C and there was usually a cold wind on the water so it felt like 55 C or colder. We never removed our jackets or our jeans in our pursuit of the tropical feeling.  Last month's cold weather which reached south Florida had resulted in a major fish kill which had cut the food supply for these birds and other water birds.  Wind seems to have impacted water levels as well; we were told that the rare storks may not even nest this year due to this crazy weather! 


We, like so many others, fled from the snow. (I do not think I met anyone actually from Florida during this trip, except for some friends we visited. )  Many other pelicans including the white pelicans below could be seen from the walkways in the preserves and sanctuaries.   They nest in pairs of over one hundred on the islands.  They catch their prey in the shallow waters rather than the dramatic diving seen with the brown pelican.

 This canoe trail below was a few miles long in the Corkscrew Swamp area of southern Florida and we saw only one group of kayakers, one other canoe, and a small electric bass boat with two die-hard fishermen.  Fighting the cooler wind gusts on the non-lee sides of the islands was challenging.  If the wind was behind us, I could sometimes lift my paddle and it would act as a tiny sail scooting us fairly rapidly across the water and even faster if the tidal current was in our favor.  When the canoe trail took us between a path in the mangroves, the wind was blocked and the sun would take charge and warm our bones.  Even though the tops of the highest mangroves had brown die-back from the harsh winter, we could pretend it was spring.  

The above photo is not very good as we were moving past fairly fast in the canoe to avoid startling the birds, but it does show the brown die-back in the tops of the mangroves from this cold winter that reached even South Florida.

Fairyland

When I was a little girl I used to see magic in all the small things at my feet.  Small bugs, little plants, even rocks all formed some magical fairy world that only I saw.  All the big people (parents/adults) were too busy rushing here and there.  I would be told to wait in the car, and I can remember looking out the side window over the sill of my dad's old truck, and as time passed, I would see all kinds of fascinating activity on the ground below.   There would be villages and meadows and battles all taking place while people rushed around above.  There would be fairy castles and tiny kitchens and elven farms, only requiring my mind's eye to see.  This moss that I saw on a recent hike before the heavy snow storms made me think of that magic land that I have abandoned so long ago.

Ribbons and Bows

Winter was aging and getting tired of having to keep everything cold and blowing moisture filled clouds across the sun.  Winter was tired of making sure that every nook and cranny was filled with cold air and so you can imagine how irritating having to deal with an errant daughter can be.


Winter's daughter was bored, as young energetic daughters moving through that passionate time of life can be.  She was flaunting and moaning and she was whining and complaining.  She was tired of wearing white and gray and she wanted something to dress up her shiny brown hair.  She wanted to look like she was ready to pirouette with the frozen rain drops.  Winter shewed her outside.  Then, by chance, down near the river, Winter's daughter found these red ribbons with bows which she carefully wove through each curly hair strand before running to dance over the wet grasses in the Winter's waning sun.

Disclaimer: Last Photo May Offend

This mockingbird was a surprise visitor to the deck the other day.  They seemed to be noisier and friendlier at my old house in the suburbs.  These woods do not seem to have many.  I don't think that I hear them much...but since they are 'mockingbirds' how do I know?  I had scattered some seeds for the little wrens that live under the deck and this fellow showed up to see what all the excitement was about.

The photos are better than I expected since I was taking them through a double paned glass door.  I guess cleaning the inside of the window paid off.

Clearly he did not feel there was anything of interest to keep him as he mooned me for a few seconds before flying off.  (It seems that everyone is a comedian!)

Happy Valentine's Day

We made it out of the driveway but only because we had this Old Town canoe in which to load all our stuff!  It made a nice sled to haul heavy luggage and beach stuff to the car and helped as we had to go around fallen trees.  We loaded the canoe on the rack on the car with a thought for some canoeing in the marshes of the south.


Being the pessimists (I would actually write realists) that we are, we packed two snow shovels to take with us.


The storm followed us to Charleston where we spent two nights  and perused the streets pulling against strong and cold winds.  Spent most of our time in stores!  Then on to Savannah where we spent one night.  A morning spent on our favorite Pinkney Island preserve revealed no birds of significance.  They had abandoned all hope and like us flew to Florida.  We spent most of our drive through northern Florida in torrential downpours across the ENTIRE state.  Now finally the cold winds have joined us here as we settle near Ft. Myers in Southeast Florida.  Temps in the mid 50's C for highs.  Looks like we are not putting on swim suits or doing any beaching!!


On an optimistic note, maple trees are a beautiful deep red with their leaves just starting and marsh grasses are a purple green showing their hope for spring. I am eager to take photos once my fingers thaw.

Exhausted

Most of the prior posts were written before the three, no four, five actually six snowstorms  since we are due 15 inches more today as I write this!  I have shoveled sidewalks and driveways in the city and come back to a nightmare of snow on top of  4 inches of well packed snow on top of 6 inches of hard ice.  Exhausted!!!  Not one, or two but three trees across the long snow covered driveway to the house.


Heading to Florida this week and will contend with their brown foliage, torrential rainstorms and tornadoes.  Bring it on!  I will drag my luggage  across this 400 feet driveway of deep snow over and under fallen trees to my car at the end and not look back.  I will drag it all the way to a warm beach and not look back if I have to.


I will leave you with a few pre-written and later scheduled posts while I am trying to brown this white snow tan.

Take Your Best Shot

Unfortunately I have nothing of real interest in this post.  Just glad to see that the diving birds are back now that the river is thawing in parts. The geese keep away from them so there seems to be some peace treaty that has been arranged.   These little charmers swim fast and far from my lens.  They were chasing each other around the river earlier in the afternoon  spewing white wakes behind them as they danced across the top of the water and making me wonder if we were closer to spring than I thought.  This is the best photos I got and they were much tinkered with so click on them only if you dare. I would like to get some closer shots (in the wild not the zoo!

Hint, Hint.

(Needless to say, this post was written over a week ago.  I was planning on being out of town.)


There is a hint that spring is coming.  The weather hit 62F today!  Very unusual for a day in late January.  The daffodils are peaking lime heads above the muddy ground and the alliums are also venturing bravely forth in lime green beneath the brown and bare branches of the chaste bush.  The azaleas have clear little buds forming.  Isn't this exciting?

I got energetic two weeks ago and began my ritual of forcing the amaryllis bulbs which now sit lifting their leaves to the sun that shines through the kitchen window.  (I love the smell of potting soil in winter.)

This lettuce held over through the winter even after we took off the plastic. We had given up on any salad crops until spring since weather had been so frozen, but were surprised to see this crop still hardy on today's sunny walk around the yard.  I cannot eat all this!

This summer parsley which was planted in my herb bed seems to have made it through the winter and snows thus far. I should probably harvest this tiny crop before all is lost!  I am starting to get new flower seeds in the mail and we are buying seed starter and replacing two seed heating pads.  It looks like the busy days are upon us soon.

Response on Controversial Topics

Regarding my prior post I neither dislike nor like hunters.  Some hunting is good for keeping populations of animals in check and the Dept. of Natural Resources seems to be doing a good job of regulating that.


Regarding climate change I do believe it is happening and that mankind is one force causing our earth to heat.  We have too much increase in carbon gases from the atmosphere in the ocean for it not to be somewhat our fault.  This is changing the oceans PH and that means coral depletion, spawning issues, etc.  I also think that this might be part of a greater natural cycle that is in conjunction with our atmospheric pollution.  So we should try to moderate our influence.


I think people would be more accepting if we just called it climate change because the warming is not evident to anyone but scientists who measure it.